In the case of an emergency, such as a fire, it is of great importance to be able to open a normally locked door and/or window in order for a person to escape the dangerous area.
Another situation in which emergency opening of a door or window is desired is in the event that a vehicle, such a splinter protected or armored vehicle, has been turned over, e.g. due to a land mine explosion. In this case the doors or windows, which normally are openable, may be impossible to open by hand, either due to the heavy weight of the doors or windows or due to the deformation of the door or window in result of the explosion.
In the event that the vehicle is turned over by a land mine explosion, it is likely that the driver of the vehicle and the vehicle personnel are turned unconscious, while the risk of vehicle fire is imminent.
In such an event, it is required that a number of people equipped with crowbars or similar is available in order to break open the door or window from outside the vehicle.
In order to facilitate opening the door or window from the outside, some vehicles are provided with a functionality of opening a door or window from the outside in case of emergency. However, there have been incidences with angry mobs which have used the outside emergency opening functionality to pull out the vehicle personnel in rage, leading to severe personnel injuries.
Hence, an improved emergency opening system would be advantageous.